The Ice Bride
by I Agree
Summary: Written for Kirai's Neverending Title Challenge. When Sesshoumaru is asked to mate with a young woman with a curious condition, he finds himself unable to say no.
1. Chapter 1

The Ice Bride

By: I Agree

From Kirai's Neverending Title Challenge on Dokuga

**A.N.** AU, set in the way past. Sesshoumaru is 17 in human years for a majority of this fic, he's also going to be more emotional… he's a teen; teens are hormonal. Also there are 4 parts to this fanfiction and each part is _exactly_ 5,000 words. There would have been another part, but I thought 20,000 was a bit much as it was.

A big thank you to** Kirai**, both for the inspired challenge she's created and for the beautiful title she gave me. I had an idea instantly and was very eager to explore it. I hope I didn't disappoint!

I do not own Inuyasha. This is written not for profit, but for the sheer pleasure of it. The 'poem' before each part is lyrics from 'Love You to Death' by Kamelot, though I changed around the order a bit (Not a Songfic I promise!). I don't own that either.

-IB-

**~*Part I*~**

_When they met she was fifteen_

_Like a black rose blooming wild_

_And she already knew she was gonna die_

At 356, young Lord Sesshoumaru was barely mating age. Introduced to society a scant six years before, he'd not even taken to looking at the opposite sex in such a manner. No male youkai of his status was expected to begin choosing a mate until they were at least 450, when their choices could be made not only on instinct, but on logic too. Even then, most didn't mate until their eight hundredth year. He had years before he had to worry about a female.

Or so he thought.

The young youkai stared at his sire, waiting for the fearsome lord to take back the words or even to continue on to say something else entirely. He was completely willing to believe he'd hallucinated, willing to say he'd misinterpreted the elder youkai's words. There was no way his father just told him he was to mate within the next two months and to a female who _he'd_ chosen. He knew the Inu no Taishou was unorthodox, but it just _wasn't_ done.

But the General didn't retract his order, merely stared at his first son in return, waiting for his reaction.

Slowly Sesshoumaru shook his head, "I do not understand."

"You aren't stupid, nor are you deaf," returned Saitou, sitting back against the wall, a leg raised with an arm resting on his knee. "It is a political match with the North, and both parties have agreed."

Sesshoumaru glared hotly, "I have _not_-"

"Nevertheless you _will_. The West and North have been at odds for far too long. This is an unprecedented act of benevolence on their part and you will _not_ disappoint me by rejecting the offer outright."

He grit his teeth, biting back the need to argue. His sire had made up his mind, there was no getting out of this. Not unless Sesshoumaru wanted to bear the brunt of his ire for the next few years.

Sensing his – reluctant – acceptance, the Inu no Taishou continued, "The female and her parents should be at the West's gate within the next week. You have that amount of time to come to terms with your situation."

"Yes father," he ground out.

"You will also be coached on proper decorum for the mating ceremonies in addition to your regular training. I'll not have you embarrassing the Western House merely because you are young."

"Yes father," repeated Sesshoumaru.

"Your mother has requested you will not completely be forced into this. You will have a month to court the girl, at the end of which both you and the girl will be given the option whether or not to mate."

Internally he thanked his mother, relieved that at least _she _was looking out for him. "Yes father."

Saitou stared him down for a moment more before his eyes softened, "I would not do this to you if I thought you would not benefit from the experience. It is unconventional that I have asked you so early to take a mate, and one not of your choice, but I feel that in the end, all will be well." A small smile tugged at the Taishou's stern mouth, "I hear she is of ice, that should ease some insecurities of yours."

Slightly shocked, Sesshoumaru could only stare at his father. It was rare that the Taishou would try to reassure him. Only in his younger years did his sire cater to his fears and discomforts and those times had been few and far in between. That he was trying _now_, Sesshoumaru could only call it a miracle.

Still unable to speak, the young lord merely nodded and cast his eyes downward. He couldn't challenge his fathers decision anyway, he would just have to accept the elders judgment and pray everything _would_ turn out as well as his father claimed.

-IB-

Two weeks rolled by almost frighteningly fast and though it was dotted with extra lessons, Sesshoumaru seemed to have too much time to mourn his predicament. Every moment he had to himself was devoted to wondering who this female was or how they would react to each other, and why _this_ girl and why _him_? His mind seemed to run never-ending circles around his mind, providing answers that would only incite more questions. By the third day, he had to force himself not to think of his upcoming mating to an unknown female.

A tug on his sleeve made Sesshoumaru jolt out of his reverie, and he looked down to see his young half-brother gazing up at him, a worried expression on his face. "Shmoru okay?"

Sesshoumaru blinked, and he looked down to see the ball he'd been tossing back and forth to his two year old brother still his hands. He handed the boy back to the little hanyou, but he still looked up at him anxiously. "Shmoru okay?"

"I am unsure," he admitted, sitting on the ground to be at eyelevel with his brother. As he expected, Inuyasha crawled into his lap and cuddled close like the pup he was, trying to offer what little comfort he could. Sesshoumaru accepted, resting his chin on his little brothers silver head as he reached up to gently scratch his puppy ears. The little pup rumbled contently, easing Sesshoumaru's anxieties for the first time in ages. He knew it wouldn't last, but for now he allowed his little brothers innocent presence calm him.

"Inuyasha is a perceptive one, isn't he?"

Sesshoumaru jolted in surprise as the Inu no Taishou's second mate walked in, closing the door behind herself. The human princess Izayoi smiled softly at her step-son as she waddled gracefully to the two boys, a hand on her very pregnant stomach. Concerned, Sesshoumaru stood, setting his younger half-brother down so he could assist the human woman. "You should not be up and about, Izayoi-san."

The woman smiled, "I am well enough, Sesshoumaru-san, the babe is in no danger today. Thank you for your concern."

He frowned, noting the dark circles under her eye as he led her to a fluffy cushion. She'd not handled pregnancy with Inuyasha well, and the second pup she'd tried to bear ended up a miscarriage, almost taking her with it. Both Saitou and Kotone, Sesshoumaru's birth mother, tried to convince her one was enough, but Izayoi, it seemed, was determined to have a daughter.

When she settled, Inuyasha cuddled into her side with an ear pressed against her stomach, she gently tugged Sesshoumaru down to sit beside her. Once he was where she wanted him, she reached out and began to finger comb his silvery silk hair. "Your father may not have noticed Sesshoumaru-san, however your mother and I have."

"And she asked to you talk to me."

"You know she isn't good with expressing, but she _is_ concerned. And so am I." She began straightening out his clothes as much as she could. _Nesting_ his father had explained during her pregnancy with Inuyasha when she'd set about cleaning the entire citadel. "You've been walking about like the living dead, fulfilling your usual duties without your usual passion. It is very painful to watch."

He grimaced, "I am being made to mate a complete stranger, a princess of a lesser daimyo, and I'm only 356 years old."

Izayoi smiled, "You are young, yes, and the situation your father put you in is an unusual one, but if I've learned anything about you in the three years I have been here it is you thrive on adversity." Gently she tugged on a strand of his hair, "Don't think of this as something you are being forced into. You and the girl have a choice in the end after all. Instead, see it as another challenge from your father, see that he's merely testing you to see if you are ready to take his place."

"It is an unfair and stupid test." But he had already calmed down, Izayoi's strange gift to see everything in a better light easing many of his insecurities. He _could_ see this as a challenge. His father gave him at least three a month. This one would just be his most difficult to date, that was all.

Yet…

"How could he ask such a thing from me? There are other ways to strengthen the relations between the two houses, why did he feel he needed to sacrifice his son's freedom?"

Izayoi pursed her lips for a moment, as if she didn't want to speak, but eventually she sighed, detangling her fingers from his hair to rub her stomach. "I do not claim to understand your fathers reasoning, Sesshoumaru, nor can I say I completely understand the inuyoukai mind, however, do you truly think he would have asked you to do this if he did not think you would be able to?"

Sesshoumaru scowled and took a breath to answer, but the hime gave him no time.

"Saitou is proud of you, and he believes this to be the correct path. If nothing else, it should show you how much faith he has in you."

The young youkai stared at his step-mother, seeing how badly she wanted him to understand her thoughts. She _did_ have a point. His sire would never have asked anything of him if he thought his son might make a mess of it all, and Saitou was known to crow on and on about his children. But she wasn't an inuyoukai. She couldn't fully understand the gravity of a 'mating' and how wrong it was for someone to be _forced_ into it. Humans very rarely felt what such a bonding could do, merely picking and choosing their life partners out of necessity. Izayoi herself had even been a gift to the Dog General. How could she understand?

He gave a fleeting, tentative smile to his step-mother, "Thank you, Izayoi-san."

She smiled sweetly in return, "Anything for our children."

-IB-

When his father told him the girl was 'of ice' he'd naturally assumed he'd meant in personality. After three centuries and over five decades being referred to as such, he'd only ever associated the word with an aloof personality when speaking of a person. Why else would one be called 'icy?'

So naturally, looking upon the wide eyed, pale _human_ princess who gazed around the foyer in obvious curiosity and awe, Sesshoumaru was confused and _angry_. Nothing about this girl could be called 'icy,' not with the open expressions he'd seen on her face the moment he'd walked in to greet the guests of the Northern Mountains. Within an instant he'd known he should have gotten _all_ the information from his wily father and not have settled with just one measly, obviously false, description of the girl.

But he reigned in his desire to abandon them in the foyer to seek out his father and _demand_ explanations. No matter how angry or bemused he was, he would _not_ blemish the good name of the Western House. His father and both mothers would be very disappointed in him if he even _thought_ of such rudeness.

Back straight, he stepped forward and nodded his head in greeting. "Please forgive my father's absence, his mate had need of him. I am his first born son, Sesshoumaru."

The small family bowed at the waist respectfully, though he noticed the girl seemed a bit more than reluctant to. He made note of it, but didn't voice his observation as they straightened. It was something harmless, especially compared to the strong holy aura radiating from her entire being.

"We are honored to be accepted into your home, Sesshoumaru-sama," said the young male, probably only in his twelfth year. Sesshoumaru could smell the reek of nervousness rolling off him and silently applauded his ability to speak so coherently. "I am here to represent my late father."

"That is acceptable," conceded Sesshoumaru, "however as you are underage, it is permissible for your mother to be representative of your family."

Surprise crossed the boys face, and he looked back to his mother, who had flushed brightly. The woman stepped forward, her scent less nervous. "I am Higurashi Shinju, wife of the late Lord Higurashi Keiji. This is my son Souta and daughter Kagome."

"You are welcome into our home." Saitou's sudden booming voice made the human's jump, though strangely, _Kagome's_ scent did not exude the same fear as her family.

The Inu no Taishou strolled in slower than he usually would, Izayoi on one arm and Kotone on his other, the visual clash of the two females just as startling as Saitou liked. Wordlessly he guided them to their seats beside his throne, both inu youkai helping the expectant human to sit. Once she was comfortable, with Kotone cuddled close and a protective hand on her stomach, Saitou turned to greet his guests. "I had expected quite the entourage; the wolves of the North are never loath to show off their wealth and numbers."

Having recovered, Shinju nodded, "Lord Jori was prepared to send more, however his son rejected the idea."

Saitou gave an amused, rumbling chuckle. "Yes, I heard Prince Kouga held a torch for this girl." He turned to the one in question, "Yet you volunteered when Jori considered a mating between the two houses."

The pale girl, bowed her head in affirmation and respect, "It seemed best for all parties involved, milord."

The sudden solemn atmosphere and the sadness obstructing his nose surprised Sesshoumaru, and he frowned thoughtfully at the young woman his father wanted him to court. What terrible thing would make a human willingly offer to mate with a youkai strange to her? He bit his tongue though, knowing he would later get the answers to his questions. Even if he had to get his mother to corner his sire.

"Hn," said Saitou, gazing at the girl for a moment longer before he looked to the older woman, "You have had a long journey, so, should you be of the same mind, I feel business should be saved for the morrow."

Shinju bowed, "My children and I would be very glad to have the opportunity to rest."

The inu beckoned, and a maid appeared from the shadows, "She will bring you to your rooms, and should you still feel the need to rest your suppers can be brought to your rooms."

The small family bowed to them, Kagome again showing the same resistance as she did, and followed the meek maid out of the room. Sesshoumaru just barely restrained himself, waiting tensely as he waited for them to be out of human earshot. He counted back from thirty, and once he reached zero, his eyes opened on a glare to seek out his father. The Taishou was still in his spot, watching him and waiting patiently for his reaction.

"You did not tell me she was human," said Sesshoumaru, his voice a low, rumbling growl.

"I know what I have and have not told you."

His fists clenched, and he could feel his claws biting into his flesh, "Why?"

Saitou glanced to his mates, "Because in this situation, it may not matter."

"Does not matter?" hissed Sesshoumaru, "Of course it matters! You would have my first born be hanyou?"

"I does not matter, my son," Saitou said firmly, "for the girl does not have much longer on this earth."

-IB-

That the girl was apparently dying didn't sway his mind all that much. She was still human, and attaching himself to her by way of a mating seemed ludicrous to him. Youkai blood was notorious for its healing qualities, and a joining would elongate the mortal life to match the immortal mate. If _Kagome_ was seeking that for herself, she was sorely mistaken. Sesshoumaru refused to be exploited.

No matter what he said however, his father would not listen. 'Get all the facts, Sesshoumaru,' he'd commanded, 'and obtain them firsthand from the girl.'

He'd had to wait, of course. The Higurashi family hadn't been expected to present themselves until the following day, and he knew it would be improper for him to ask a supposedly sickly woman to overexert herself. If she really _was_ dying, then he didn't want to do her any harm. He only wanted the answers his father refused to give him.

Sesshoumaru patiently awaited the princesses presence, slowly pacing the perimeter of the library. He'd waited until her mother had audience with his father and his mates, knowing it would only be polite to 'entertain' the woman-child and her little brother. It was what the Taishou wanted anyway, for him to have some time to 'get to know' her, to see if he could stand her enough to allow a mating.

He looked up when the shoji slid open, revealing the ones he'd been waiting for. He noted she was still pale, as though a night of rest had not helped her at all. Discreetly he sniffed the air, searching for any signs of illness. With some smugness, he found none.

The princess bowed, though much more shallow than the previous day. The boy more than made up for her lack of respect, for he bowed deeply and would not look up at him.

"You requested our presence, milord?"

Sesshoumaru nodded as he approached them, "Indeed. I thought since our parents have seen fit to exclude us from their initial meeting we would have one ourselves."

Slowly, warily, she nodded, "And what of Souta?"

"He is the only male of your household is he not?"

"Yes, milord."

He cast his gaze to the boy in question, who paled, "Then you shall also have a say."

The boy, Souta, nodded his head jerkily, his gaze still on the ground. Unconcerned, Sesshoumaru turned back to the girl who was studying him curiously, almost as if she hadn't expected such niceties from him. Eventually she nodded, her eyes cast only briefly to the ground; another blatant show of rebellion against her lesser station. Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth, but, for now, bore it. There was no need to rip off her head now if this sickness of hers was going to do the work for him.

"You asked to be chosen for the union." He stated bluntly instead, getting to the heart of the matter.

She nodded, "As I told Taishou-sama, it seemed to suit all involved."

"How have you come to this conclusion?"

Kagome frowned, confusion lacing her scent. "Didn't… didn't the Taishou explain the situation to you?"

He fought back a grimace, unwilling to admit he was the only one uninformed about the 'benefits' of their union. But he had to; she would be the best source to get his questions answered.

"The only thing my sire chose to tell this Sesshoumaru before our meeting was the mating would unite the two lands, though feebly at best, you are the daughter of a deceased daimyo, and I would not be the one who refused the mating at the end of the courting month should I want to live to see my 357th year."

She looked almost horrified as she glanced to her equally nervous brother. Before he could demand she explain, she gestured to a circle of cushions. "Perhaps we should sit."

Annoyance ran through him, but he nodded and politely guided her to sit. Her younger brother took the seat to her left without a word, playing with his fingers nervously. Once he was seated regally before them, he nodded to the pale young woman.

She took in a shaking breath. "About three years ago, I was found to be a priestess. My father was still alive then and though he knew it to be unusual he had an elderly miko, someone he trusted, train me every now and again. I didn't take the lessons seriously, as a princess I wouldn't be allowed to take the roll of village miko anyway, so what was the point? I paid even less attention when my father died a year later."

Beside her, Souta twitched, but Sesshoumaru didn't take any notice.

"About nine months ago, Kaede, my teacher in the art of holy energy, passed away. Mother, wanting to continue my training, began to seek out a tutor who would be able to challenge me further, who could possibly incite more of an interest in my gifts. Tsubaki-san came to us almost immediately."

"Tsubaki the _bitch_," growled Souta, surprising Sesshoumaru with the sudden display of animosity. So it seemed he was capable of more than fear.

"Souta," hissed Kagome, "it is over and done with."

The boy glared at her, but said nothing else. With one more glare to the younger sibling, Kagome turned back to the inu prince, "I'll not bore you with how much of a taskmaster she was, or how cruel she could be. It's enough to say we found too late she was a dark priestess."

That sparked his interest. A dark priestess was rare, that one willingly came out into the open to 'teach' was unheard of. "What did she want of you?"

Kagome shrugged, "Probably to steal my powers, her motive was never too clear. All I know for sure is that I began to annoy her with my flippancy, and eventually she'd had enough." She paused, her lower lip shaking a bit as she took a deep, fortifying breath. "One night I woke up to find her standing over me, muttering. I couldn't move, couldn't scream, I couldn't do anything but watch her cast the curse that's killing me."

His lips were pressed into a thin, grim line, "And this is the reason you have deemed it necessary to mate? Do you believe youkai blood will remove the curse?"

She shook her head, "I paid enough attention to Kaede to know blood from a demon would only slow the process of a curse placed by a strong priestess."

"And your own powers? Can you not overwhelm her energy?" It was asked out of pure curiosity.

"I am not trained enough, and it would take many more months than I have to learn how to do so."

"Should you not be able to reverse it?"

"I did not hear her words milord," said she softly, sadly shaking her head. "I don't know the curse. All I know is that when it was complete, she laughed and told me my death would be an everlasting winter. Ever since then, my body has become colder and colder."

-IB-

"If I mate her, nothing will change."

Saitou looked up from the scroll he was reading, an eyebrow raised, "What makes you think so?"

The younger inu stepped forward, kneeling on the cushion before his fathers low desk. "It is a curse that ails her, a mating would not cure it, nor would the exchanging of blood."

"She knows this," Saitou said blandly, returning to his reading.

Sesshoumaru reigned in his annoyance, "That the North sent an ailing woman who is assured to die to mate into the West is an insult."

"Perhaps in your young eyes it is. Have you asked to court her yet?"

He ignored the question. "What's more, when she dies the tentative bond the two lands with have forged will be severed. All your planning will have been for naught."

Saitou stared at him from over the scroll for a moment, his expression unreadable. Before too long, the Taishou put the paper down on his desk and took a deep breath. "You have not gotten all the information then."

"I've enough."

The elder youkai waved a dismissive hand, "Obviously not if you still have this attitude about the mating. I would have thought you would see the benefit right off, but obviously you're more pigheaded than I gave you credit for."

"There is no-"

"Let me fill in the finer details since you did not see fit to question the girl thoroughly enough," said Saitou as though his son hadn't spoken. "Though her own powers are hindering the curse, and, if the mating does not fall through, your blood will do the same, the girl will still die within a few months. Mere months will not be enough time for a babe to grow within her womb, but the addition will give more time for her family to accept her impending death. A benefit for the West and a benefit for the North."

Sesshoumaru frowned. It was true, but if that was the reason for sending the girl, then it was almost heartless and cruel of his father.

"Now, you have heard my say the son of Jori held a torch for this girl. Do you not think _his_ blood, should they have mated, would do the same yours?"

The prince blanched internally. No he had _not_ thought of that… so why?

"I also said it was she who volunteered to the mating. Can you think why?"

Slowly he shook his head, completely bemused. Why, when she had so very little time left to live, and with a youkai prince willing to mate her, would she volunteer to go to a foreign land and bind herself to a complete stranger just for the greater good of two peoples? Any other would try to make their last days as easy and comfortable as they could.

His father took up his reading again. "Talk to her again, my son. This time, ask the more important questions."

-IB-

He found her in the gardens, trailing a finger over a flower he didn't know the name of. She made a lovely picture, for a human, surrounded by a variety of colors, her pale skin and unruly black hair a direct contrast of it all. Her scent was calm and at peace, so different from the churning hurt and fear she'd exuded when she'd told him her story that he was loath to disturb her. He wanted to wait until a later time to ask her, yet time was something she had precious little of. So he stepped forward, purposefully, but gently, expanding his youki so she would sense him.

Kagome looked up with a smile, as if she had known he was there all along. "Good evening, Sesshoumaru-sama. Have you come to look at the flowers too?"

He was brought up short a bit, surprised at how nicely his name rolled off her tongue. He shook it off quickly, unwilling to let such a thing hinder him. "This Sesshoumaru came with one more question."

She nodded respectfully, "I will answer to the best of my ability."

With his eyes locked onto her blue ones, ready to detect any sign of falsehoods, he only spoke one word: "Why?"

"W-why?" echoed she, obviously taken aback.

"Why would you ask to be sent mile from your home to mate with a perfect stranger when you are dying?"

"Oh." It was said on a sigh, and her blue eyes broke away from his to look down at the flowering bush again. He waited patiently, and was rewarded minutes later when she looked back up and shrugged gracelessly. "I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it I guess. The whole situation works itself out."

"Merely because of the curse?"

She nodded almost emphatically, "Well think about it. I may be a noble of a lower station, but I'm still royal, so my marrying, or _mating,_ you would make substantial ties with the North. That's what both lands wanted."

"And yet with your death-"

"Kouga wouldn't allow my death, or my efforts to be in vain." She said with a shake of her head, "I made this decision, and I know him well enough to know that he'll honor it long after I'm gone."

Sesshoumaru doubted it, yet held his tongue.

"Also, since I'm dying, I won't have any children so your offspring, when you eventually have some, wouldn't have any blood of the North and they wouldn't be hanyou. Not to mention you'll be free of me in the blink of an eye. I would have more time with my family, since your blood can slow the curse-"

"Why not use the wolf prince's blood?"

She grimaced, "Because he thinks he loves me, and to use him like that, knowing it would only give me a little bit more time, is just cruel. You don't care about me, so when I die, if we are bonded, then it wouldn't affect you as much." She plucked a flower from the bush and began twirling it between her fingers in agitation, taking a deep breath to gain her calm back.

When she looked up at him, he was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes. "I will admit, Sesshoumaru-sama, that I thought of these reasons only on the way here."

He gently pulled the dizzily spinning flower from her fingers, "What was your original reason?"

She bowed her head and wiped at her eyes with her kimono sleeve, unable to meet his eye any longer. The fear and anguish finally caught up to her it seemed. "I j-just wanted to do something good with my life before I died. I wanted someone to remember I helped them."

The admission surprised him, though he knew it shouldn't. Most humans lived such fleeting lives that they seemed to have the need to make a mark on the world around them, with very few being an exception. All he met merely wanted to control what was around them, force the people to remember them by means of tyranny and propaganda. It was an effective method, but not the most admirable. _This_ girl, this young human, did not want to go that path. Instead, she wanted to be a catalyst for a time of peace between two opposing lands.

And who was he to stop her?

"Then, Lady Higurashi Kagome," he tucked the pink bit of flora behind her ear then guided her to look at him with two fingers beneath her chin, "will you consent to a courting from this Sesshoumaru?"

The girl gave a watery smile, a pretty flush finally appearing on her pastel face. "I would be honored."

-IB-

Please Regard Me Kindly,

I Agree


	2. Chapter 2

The Ice Bride

By: I Agree

From Kirai's Neverending Title Challenge on Dokuga

**A.N.** AU, set in the way past. Sesshoumaru is 17 in human years for a majority of this fic, he's also going to be more emotional… he's a teen; teens are hormonal. Also there are 4 parts to this fanfiction and each part is _exactly_ 5,000 words. There would have been another part, but I thought 20,000 was a bit much as it was.

A big thank you to** Kirai**, both for the inspired challenge she's created and for the beautiful title she gave me. I had an idea instantly and was very eager to explore it. I hope I didn't disappoint!

I do not own Inuyasha. This is written not for profit, but for the sheer pleasure of it. The 'poem' before each part is lyrics from 'Love You to Death' by Kamelot, though I changed around the order a bit (Not a Songfic I promise!). I don't own that either.

-IB-

**~*Part II*~**

'_What was summer like for you?'_

_She asked him with a smile._

'_What's tomorrow without you?'_

_He silently replied._

Courting proved to be an entirely different experience than he had anticipated. No that wasn't right. _Kagome_ proved to be entirely different than he anticipated. He could have attributed it to her humanity. Humans were forever making fools of themselves and toeing boundaries which even youkai steered clear of. Then again her being female could explain away. Females were creatures who did what they wanted no matter what others thought, no matter their species.

Yet he knew it was just because she was Kagome; a girl who was free from the usual restricted life of humans and youkai because she was dying.

Sesshoumaru stared down at the young princess of the north lands, wondering exactly _how_ she had gotten so filthy, and _why_ had she decided to pull up her kimono so high? Somehow working with pottery clay didn't seem like it could be _that_ messy of an activity yet she was covered head to toe with the clay, her kimono hiked up to her thighs so she could be closer to the low stool she was working on. It was almost the same as when he had caught her playing in the mud in the gardens on a particularly wet day, though _then_ her legs had been covered.

Sesshoumaru was speechless, unable to help himself from staring at those long, slender limbs. He felt no shame in looking, not when she presented them so freely. In fact she didn't even seem to notice how indecent she was displaying herself. She merely smiled up at him like a child who'd found a new toy, her fingers buried in the clay before her.

"Look what I found," said she needlessly.

With an effort he pulled his eyes away from her legs. "Indeed. I thought we had planned to take a ride on Ah and Un."

"We did," she affirmed with a curt nod, "but I got sidetracked."

He reached out and picked a bit of dried clay from the shoulder of her kimono. "Hn. I see."

A pretty smiled curled her lips and, after picking up a glob of the terracotta, presented it to him, "You want to join me?"

He sniffed distastefully, "No."

With a shrug Kagome dropped the piece back down onto the stool with a wet 'plop.' A smattering of the earth sprayed out, catching the inu youkai's pristine white hakamas. He looked down at it, his eyes narrowed as if he could scare the stains away. Of course, they remained blatantly on his clothes. When he looked up to the royal priestess, her eyes were wide, dirtied fingers covering her mouth in apprehension.

Sesshoumaru, instead of turning around and stalking away in anger, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was no use flying off the handle. Not when this was her lesser offense against his person. Within the first four days of their courtship she had managed to burn him, soak him, trip him, and poison him. Each incident was a mistake, and yet each time he wondered if he'd be able to survive the petite human. She seemed to _radiate_ trouble, and it affected everyone around her. Especially, it seemed, him. Perhaps they _shouldn't_ take a ride on Ah-Un. He was sure she would find a way to push him off and send him plummeting to the ground.

"I'm really sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama," said she from behind her fingers.

Having calmed himself, the inuyoukai nodded, "Shall we continue with our day?"

Her hands dropped a little bit in surprise. "Right now?"

"Yes."

"Like this?"

"Yes."

She glanced down with wide eyes, as if she was finally noticing all the clay on her person. With a blush she pushed her kimono down to a more modest level. "Maybe we should get cleaned up first."

"Hn, no need." He almost got a sick pleasure out of the shock on her face. Of course she would expect him to want to change immediately. After each 'incident' the first thing he would do was to go bathe, groom, and change into unsoiled clothes. He had an image he needed to uphold after all, and being filthy would hinder that. Now, however, he was not going to be anywhere he needed to make an impression. Right now he couldn't care less.

"But… but," she presented her hands to him like a child, an innocently devious look on her face. "I'm all dirty. I might get you dirtier."

He beckoned her with a hand. "Come."

Curiosity obviously piqued, Kagome rose from her stool and stood eagerly in front of him, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Where are we going?"

Her childish excitement nearly made him smile, but he bit it back in favor of grasping her soiled kimono sleeve and pulling her from the room. He walked with purpose, ignoring the looks of a few surprised court members as he passed them, not bothering to even slow when they called out to him. He didn't need to explain himself to any of them, especially not when it came to a prospective mate. Even if said prospective mate was covered in drying clay and being tugged along like a naughty child.

He glanced back and found her struggling to keep up with his brisk walk, her pale face scrunched up in concentration, and her kimono hiked up a bit to allow more freedom of movement. He slowed to a more leisurely pace, and was rewarded with a bright smile. Warmth crawled up his cheeks, but he ignored it and he escorted her out to the gardens where Ah-Un waited. He was _not_ blushing after all, so there was no need to even think on it.

When she caught sight of the scaly beast she squealed in delight and streaked passed him. Quickly, so as not to have the beast attack her out of surprise, Sesshoumaru gave a low warning growl to his steed. Unexpectedly, not only did Ah-Un look up at him but Kagome stopped in her tracks and looked back at him with wide blue eyes. Slightly impressed, and curious as to how she knew what the growl meant, Sesshoumaru slowly joined her and guided her forward with a hand at the small of her back. The paleness of her face receded a bit to a more healthy hue, and he knew _she_ was blushing this time.

"Kagome," said he when they reached the beast, "This is Ah," he rested his hand atop one head, "and Un," and nodded to the other. "Ah, Un, this is Kagome. You will treat her appropriately."

The two heads looked at each other before nodding and sniffing at the young woman. By her scent, and by the way she cooed at the two heads and petted them, Sesshoumaru knew Kagome was amused and very, very pleased.

But somehow he couldn't wait to get her in the air. "Shall we ride then?"

The priestess nodded eagerly and the young prince hid a smirk as he brought her to the saddle. It wasn't much of a height up, comparatively to the horse she'd ridden on her journey to the West castle, but he aided her up anyway. His mothers would have scolded him relentlessly if he hadn't.

Sesshoumaru had to suppress a shudder of revulsion at the coolness of her flesh when he handed her up into the saddle. It was unnatural, almost like touching a corpse. And if he acted like this when briefly coming in contact with her hand, then he didn't know how he would be able to go through with the mating.

"I'm sorry."

Sesshoumaru looked up as she pulled her hand away and hid it in her kimono's sleeve, an unhappy look on her face as she avoided his gaze. Before he could question her withdrawal she gave him a shaking, watery smile.

"Souta doesn't like it when I touch him either. Not anymore."

Understanding dawned on him, and silently Sesshoumaru cursed himself for his continued inability to hide his displeasure. On impulse his hand sought hers out, pulling it out of its silk confines to gently place a kiss on her knuckles. An act which surprised him just as much as it surprised her. It was done, however, and he was glad to find he didn't regret it. Her skin colored enough to look like a natural blush.

Wordlessly, and with a devious smile, Sesshoumaru slid into Ah-Un's saddle just behind her, ignoring the drying bits of clay which flaked off her and onto him, and snapped the dragons reigns smartly. The beast lumbered forward and with one more coaxing snap of leather, leapt into the air. The inuyoukai smirked at the startled squeak from the woman child in front of him, knowing she had not expected a flight. He had planned on telling her, however his silence was his revenge for the clay on his clothes.

"I hope you are not afraid of flying," he teased in her ear, nearly chuckling when all he received as an answer was a dirty look thrown over her shoulder.

He knew she was uncomfortable. Not only did he have her nervous scent in his nose but her hands gripped his thighs tightly like a lifeline.

Yet the discomfort eased, her clutch loosening, as they rose higher and higher in the air. Nervousness gave way to awe, and Kagome leaned so far forward to see the ground below that Sesshoumaru had to wrap an arm around her waist to keep her anchored. She gave him a bright smile and leaned more fully on his arm, allowing her to see more of what lay below them. It amazed Sesshoumaru to know she trusted him so fully.

Eventually, and thankfully, when he leveled off the dragon at a few hundred feet in the air she straightened and looked instead to the view before them. Before too long, her body began relaxing at the beautiful view and she leaned back against him. Sesshoumaru tensed for but a second, unused to contact from anyone, but finding it not unacceptable. Though he knew her to be safe, he kept his arm about her small form.

He took a route he and Ah-Un knew well, having traveled it when Sesshoumaru had been the one doing the carrying. It had changed as they years passed, yet its effect on him never wavered. Like always, the magnificence of flight took him away from his thoughts, enraptured him to something that was merely experience. He was more home here, in the air, than he was in the palace. Here he could be free of the confines of his station.

The comfortable, yet cool weight of the woman seating in front of him quickly brought him back to his mind.

This courting was perhaps the most unusual thing he'd ever been put through, not even barring the extensive scent training his father had demanded of him. At first he wanted to kill the girl. How could he not? The girl was brash, way too confident for a human female, and seemed to get him into more troublesome situations than he'd seen in the days before he'd met her. Only knowing his father would be displeased, and the entirety of the Northern Armies would be at their door, kept him from putting his claw to her throat.

As time passed, he couldn't help but discover was an interesting woman she was. He'd known she was kind, she would not have been at the manor if she didn't have a kind heart, however her intelligence and wit had come to a surprise to him. He'd thought, since she'd rejected the tutelage from a priestess so often, she was an ignorant little girl. Instead he was treated to almost mind numbing debates and dry, clever jokes he actually had to _think_ about for a change. Not that she'd truly made him laugh outright, but every now and again he'd chuckled quietly, something even his father had not managed in years.

It had taken some time to realize it, and even longer to admit it, yet in the few short weeks she'd been in his home Higurashi Kagome had become the closest thing he'd ever had to a friend. That his only friend had come to him now and was dying was not lost on him. He wished, and yes he _wished_ it, that he could find a way to free her of her curse entirely. Now, he just had to get used to the idea that he would be _mating_ with his _friend_.

A sudden, cold wetness at his neck nearly made him jump, and he reached up to wipe it away. He brought his finger surreptitiously to his nose and gave the liquid a cautious sniff, and found it to have the bittersweet scent of tears. Slightly alarmed, Sesshoumaru looked down and saw that the girl was indeed crying. He wiped the nearly frozen wetness away from her skin, knowing it was not the wind whipping around them that was freezing her tears, and rested his chin on her head in an attempt to comfort her.

And on the wind, her soft voice carried beautifully.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru."

-IB-

Perhaps it was because he couldn't smell the stench of death on her like he could on any other dying creature, or even that she didn't display the mannerisms of one who knew she was about to pass, but Sesshoumaru had a hard time remembering the lively Princess Kagome had a short time left to live when he was with her. He was given very rare reminders; when he felt the coolness of her skin, when the color of her blush faded to her 'natural' pale, or even when she merely stared into the distance, deep her in own thoughts. Then he was reminded of her situation, of how she was brought to him in the first place. Those moments however, were rare and far in between. He knew it was the priestess herself that made him forget, for she hid her fears and sadness very well.

When he encountered her small family, he felt the weight of her curse bearing down on him. Taunting him. He would have avoided her mother and brother, for that reason, but for one small detail. They were the West's only way of knowing if her conditions were worsening.

Sesshoumaru stared down at the young boy, Souta, wondering why he was forever coming to _him_ to tell him about how slowly his elder sister was beginning to move in the mornings, or how she was complaining of warmth on the coolest of days. His mothers expressed more interest, even Kotone who seemed strangely maternal lately. Well no, he didn't wonder _why_ the boy came to him. Souta wanted him to mate with his sister as soon as possible, to prolong her life, and so the boy came trying to guilt him into giving his blood. What he did want to know was why he kept coming after so many times being snubbed. Sesshoumaru had to admit though, his persistence was something to be admired.

Slowly blinking, the inuyoukai let the anxious boy stew in his worry for a moment. Before long however, knowing the child would faint from impatience, he spoke: "What news have you for me today?"

"Her lips are blue."

Shock shook through him, and he canted his head to the side, "What?"

Souta grimaced, mistaking the question for superiority, "I said 'her lips are blue.' We woke up this morning and she looked like she was dead."

Not for the first time, Sesshoumaru wondered what kind of curse the dark miko could have laid on the young human that could cause such dramatic affects. Cooling flesh, freezing tears, and now her skin was changing colors? This was unlike anything he'd ever even heard of. And yet…

Sesshoumaru swept past the boy, making his way to the guest rooms to see this phenomenon for himself, to make sure the younger child was not beginning to make up stories just to expedite their decision. He didn't think the child had, there had been no dishonesty in his scent, but he couldn't help but to want to check and make sure. He could help but hope the boy had been seeing things.

Without the courtesy of a knock, the Western Prince pulled open the door, his eyes scanning the room for the girl. He found her sitting on her futon, still in her yukata with her back towards him. Her mother hovered over her nervously, barely even registering his entrance. He didn't bother with her, instead he slowly walked the perimeter of the room, his eyes trained on her still form. When he was finally able to see her face his breath froze in his chest.

Souta had _not_ been seeing things. Kagome's lips were a disturbing shade of purplish blue.

He approached the seemingly comatose girl slowly, as if she would suddenly come to and bolt like a wild animal. She didn't however, not even when he knelt on one knee before her and lifted her head with a finger under her chin. Her dulled blue eyes didn't even focus on him as she breathed shallowly.

A frown tugged at his lips when his keen eyes detected something human eyes could not. A slight, almost unnoticeable fog escaped her lips as she exhaled. As if her insides were colder than the air around them.

The curse was progressing faster than any had thought it would.

-IB-

"From being completely against the mating to wanting it done now, eh?"

Sesshoumaru ignored the jibe from his father, knowing that to engage would only waste precious time. He knew he had his father approval. His sire had all but demanded that he do the joining, there was no need to formally get his acceptance of the match. Except that Sesshoumaru _wanted_ the older youkai's approval.

"She is dying-"

"We know."

"-much more quickly than anticipated. Should we want this union to happen the way it was agreed upon it must be now." He tried to sound as diplomatic as he could, tried to remove all emotion, to act like he usually would when confronted by his father. Yet, when his voice wavered, he knew he had failed this time.

Saitou frowned at him and leaned back, studying his eldest son. Sesshoumaru clenched his fists, waiting nervously for his father to speak, to reprimand him.

"Perhaps I've made a mistake."

The young demon blinked, his eyes wide at the unexpected admission. "I…"

The Inu no Taishou sighed, suddenly looking very old, "You were not supposed to become attached Sesshoumaru, my silly son."

He flushed hotly, "I have not-"

"Don't try to lie," chastised the elder, "I can smell it on you. You are worried."

Not knowing what to say, the prince remained silent. Anything he said now would more than likely be detriment to his wanting to get the mating done and over with. His father filled the quiet after a brief, but tense, hush.

"I agreed to this arrangement because I thought you would act your usual stoic self," he revealed. "I knew you would fight it at first, but when the logic of it sank in, I knew you would accept."

Sesshoumaru frowned, "You gave us time to get to know each other. I thought-"

Saitou shook his head, "Your mother requested the time for many youkai display a madness if they mate unwillingly."

"Lesser youkai-"

"It is your mothers worry," interrupted the Western Lord sternly, "not mine. If I had known you would begin caring for the girl I wouldn't have given you leave to adjust. Instead, it has complicated things."

"How?"

Saitou looked at him in annoyance, "Have you not been paying attention to your lessons?"

Bristling slightly, Sesshoumaru met his fathers glare with equal fervor. "You insult me."

"Then why has it slipped your mind that your attachment to her will strengthen the connection to more than a simple blood bond?" growled Saitou.

He searched his memories, but was unable to produce such a lesson. Had his teacher been lax, or had he not been paying proper attention? "Explain."

Again the older demon sighed, "A blood bond would not tie you together, but merely exchange attributes of each other. Your blood would eventually be able to destroy the attributes from the girl without continual exchanging. That you care for her…"

He sensed his fathers reluctance to continue. "Ties us?"

Saitou nodded.

This was an unforeseen problem, one he was faulting his tutor for completely. How could the old demon _not_ tell him that simple emotion would give blood such power?

"It would kill me then?"

"Do you love her?"

Sesshoumaru started, unprepared for the question, but he rallied quickly. "No."

"No?"

He shook his head, "She is my friend."

Something flickered in his fathers eye, the same something he had seen in his mothers. "You will live. You will feel the loss, but you would live."

"Then I will mate her."

"Sesshoumaru-"

"Father," Sesshoumaru interrupted softly, "it is all I can give her."

-IB-

Her cold hands shook in his and he didn't know whether he should attribute it to nerves or something else. He knew she didn't shake from the cold anymore.

As ceremony dictated, he trailed a line of sake across the delicate skin of her palm with a finger, painting a crude Western crest on the hand he was to cut open. That they were performing the rites, no matter how many changes were made, for such a simple act was almost insane. It wasted so much time to go through the inane and superfluous rites, time they didn't have.

And yet circling them, laying down a ring of the sweetly scented wine, were a pair of young inu youkai girls doing their best not to stare at the pale, blue lipped princess. Sesshoumaru wouldn't have minded so much, he knew Kagome didn't, but the younger girl kept tripping over her own feet every time she looked at the priestess. He was thankful the two would be leaving soon, for he didn't know if he'd be able to resist eviscerating her.

He remained silent as the ceremony commenced, a strange mix of both a human marriage and youkai mating ceremony, yet he didn't pay attention to any of it. He just watched as Kagome took shallow breaths, the fog of cool air on her exhale so much more prominent than days before. Her flesh was colder than he'd ever felt it, cooler now than a corpse. It was as if she was turning into ice, and how she was living through it, he didn't know, and he wondered, not for the first time, if he was doing the right thing by prolonging her ordeal.

The sound of the door closing had Sesshoumaru looking up to find the young demonesses gone and Kagome gazing at him despondently. He met her gaze until hers dropped and, though he was surprised by her submission, he released one of her hands to pour a cup of rice wine for them.

"What was the sake for?"

Without a pause he handed her the cup, knowing that, though it was forbidden to speak during the ceremony, she wouldn't be able to handle no communication. "Traditionally, it is blood from both the participants, however in deference to human culture it was replaced with the sake."

"I thought biting was the tradition, and wouldn't drinking the blood do the same as a cutting?"

He shook his head, "A bite is a sign of disrespect, and I do not disrespect you. Drinking the blood does nothing as it would remain, in essence, outside the body." He glanced up at her, but found she had no reaction.

Instead she merely nodded, but presented no more questions, blindly going through the ceremony just as he did. She accepted the wine without a fuss, didn't blink as he wrapped a braid of his silken hair about her throat. Everything passed her notice, it seemed she was the very essence of calm.

It wasn't until he began pressing a claw to her palm that she stopped him with a gentle hand on his. Sesshoumaru looked up and was concerned to see the beginnings of tears.

"Kagome?"

She sniffled a little, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. "Should we really do this Sesshoumaru?"

His eyes widened slightly, "Are you not the mastermind of this whole circumstance?"

She nodded dolefully, but her hand didn't move. "Your father spoke to me the other night."

"To tell you of the mating ceremony, yes?"

Again, her head dipped in a nod, "That, and to tell me…" a tear dropped to the floor, a frozen crystal, and Kagome finally looked up, "I don't want you to hurt because of me Sesshoumaru."

Her sudden display of emotion after such calm brought him up short for a moment, but he rallied quickly. "Admirable, but it does not change my decision."

She grimaced and tried to pull her hand from his, but he used his superior strength to keep her in place. "He's right you know."

An eyebrow rose, "Who Father? Yes he has a reoccurring tendency to be. It can get annoying."

"About expecting you to be completely business-like about this," mumbled she, still tugging at her hand, though half-heartedly. "I'd heard that you were a cold-fish, didn't care about anyone, so I thought, mating with you would be best, since it wouldn't hurt you in the end." She sniffed again and more frozen tears fell to the tatami beneath them, quickly melting, "I don't understand why you still want to go through with this, knowing…"

Sesshoumaru stared at the dismal girl for a moment, before again looking to her palm. A second later and he gently sliced open her skin along the lifeline, purposefully lengthening it. Kagome gave a squeak of pain and surprise, but didn't move, her eyes wide as she stared at the dark blood gathering in her hand.

They both watched her blood begin to drip onto the floor before he softly admitted: "It is because I _should_ feel something."

She tore her eyes away from the wound and to him, "What?"

He reached down and picked up the sharp knife made available to them, pressing it into her unwounded hand. "How could I not?" he asked softly, "How could this Sesshoumaru best honor you? You who caused nothing but trouble, who presented herself as nothing more than what she was? You are my friend, and I choose, selfishly, to keep you tied to this world a little longer. I choose, selfishly, to tie your life to mine so that you may always be with me in some fashion."

Tears dropped uninhibited to the floor as, for the first time Sesshoumaru had seen, she allowed her grief to overwhelm her. Careful of the knife, he pulled the princess to him, into his embrace. Kagome let go of the dagger and fisted her hands into his clothing as she cried into his shoulder. He closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms about her, keeping his own sorrow at bay.

He waited until she calmed to turn her in his arms and settle her back against his chest. Silently, he put the knife back into her hand and presented his own palm for her use. Shaking and hesitant, the girl pressed the sharp tool into his palm and made a short cut. Sesshoumaru stretched his hand, encouraging his almost black blood to well up and flow and when he was satisfied, he pressed his bleeding palm to Kagome's.

Immediately, a cold tingling began in his palm and began to travel up his arm as Kagome stiffened, her hand gripping tightly around his.

"Y-your blood is h-hot," she gasped, "I feel like I'm m-melting."

And he could feel his body accepting her icy blood, feel the coldness travel to his heart. Unconcerned, he kept their hands clasped together and kept his senses trained on the trembling girl in his lap. His body tensed at every little gasp, at every quiet whimper, and he wondered if what he'd done, what _they'd_ done had been the right thing. They didn't know what the dark miko's curse was, perhaps she thought to make youkai blood make it worse. Perhaps she was dying now because he hadn't thought of this before.

But they couldn't turn back now.

He didn't know how long they sat there, covered in each others blood and absorbing each others temperature, but it wasn't long before Kagome fell asleep, exhausted by the heat now flowing through her. For Sesshoumaru's part, the coldness had come and gone; the curse set by the dark priestess had not been for him, his own aura already nullified it. And with the coldness went his insecurities for her welfare. If his body rejected it, his blood would hold the curse at bay in her body.

With infinite care he extracted his hand from hers, his wound having already healed itself. Raising her hand to his mouth he licked away the blood, examining the healthy pinked color of newly healed flesh. Satisfied her palm was sufficiently mended, he studied her carefully, searching for any signs of difficulties. He was pleasantly surprised to find there seemed to be none.

Her complexion was beautiful, a more hearty color than he'd ever seen from her, not even when she'd first come to the palace. The blue veins which had shown so horribly before were faded, and so had gone the deathly look.

And she was warm, perhaps not the same warmth as another, but that death-like frigidness had gone. Sesshoumaru held her closer, pulling one of the ceremonial cloths from the wall and wrapping her in it. Sesshoumaru leaned back against the wall, his new mates breath fanning his neck as she slept.

Soon, his eyes drifted closed as well, his body lulled to sleep by the reassuring sound of her strong heart.

-IB-

A.N. For those of you who question the 'outside of the body' part of the ceremony, medically and anatomically speaking, the gastric track is not the inside of your body but the way for the nutrients to get into the body.

ALSO, some shameless pimping from me. There's an author, Velvet Sometimes, who is absolutely wonderful and I honestly don't think she's getting enough love from readers. I DEFINITELY recommend her works, please go support her! ^_^ http:/www. fan fic tion. ne t/u/2086465/ (remove spaces)

Please Regard Me Kindly,

I Agree


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